For

Really immersive

Against

Not much that we could discern from our hands-on time

Last night Pocket-lint hit up PlayStation HQ in New York City for one reason, and one reason only: to play The Fight: Lights Out for PlayStation Move. The long awaited game has just been released for Move, and will allow players to fight using the two handheld Move controllers, where their movements will be reflected on screen.

At first glance the games graphics are well, stunning. You can see every bead of sweat, every shadow in the background, and every drop of blood. Besides the overall realism of the game, what makes these details especially important is that they will help you be the best boxer you can be. The Fight is played from a first person perspective, meaning that when you’re staring into your opponent’s eyes, you’ll know exactly when they’re close enough to send that left hook flying thanks to the detailed graphics and incredible depth. Since the game is so detailed, your own depth perception plays a large role in the game and how you will react to your opponent's jabs.

The other cool thing about this game is that it takes into account both how much you’ve been hurt and how much energy you’ve exerted, both of which can be seen in bars on the screen. That means that if you’re wildly flinging punches in the air without actually making contact with your opponent, you’re going to run out of energy, much like you would in a real boxing match. This is where your depth perception comes in. You need to be in range of your opponent before you throw a hard punch in order for it to really help you win the fight.

Although we didn’t create a player when we played, you can create your own player with details including what they look like and what they’re wearing, along with where they will be fighting. When playing with multiple players, you view the game in a split-screen much like other multiplayer games.

Compared to motion gaming systems like Microsoft Kinect and Nintendo Wii, the PlayStation Move offers remarkable reaction time on screen. When we threw a punch, the punch would immediately be reflected by our sweatier badass alter ego on screen. Often with these types of games, the lag time is so strong that you sometimes get confused and out of the rhythm of the game. With PlayStation Move, this isn’t the case. Your every move is reflected on screen so you get really into the game. We started throwing punch combinations we didn’t even know we had in us.

The game also uses head tracking technology so if your head is in the frame of the PlayStation Eye camera, you can weave, move, crouch and duck down and direct your punches in any direction you want and it will be reflected by your character in the game.

We also like the versatility of moves in this game. You’re not relegated to only punches, jabs, and uppercuts, but with the right movement you can headbutt someone, put them in a headlock, and play dirty if you so choose. That makes the game really physical. We’re not going to lie, we were straight up sweating after unsuccessfully attempted to thrash our opponent within an inch.

The game is also sensitive to how hard you throw a punch. With the Wii, many gamers have realised that if you flick the controller towards the screen, it will simulate a punch on the screen. Not the case with Move. You have to throw a serious punch every time you want to make contact. It almost feels like you’re actually fighting for your life (or at least street cred) within the game.

Verdict

Naturally a boxing game lends itself beautifully to motion gaming technology because it is such a physical activity. Compared to other boxing games, we really got into The Fight for PlayStation Move. We were throwing punches and putting our opponent in head locks like our life depended on it - like we were in a real fight. And our favourite part of the game was the finishing move a la Mortal Kombat circa 1995, only with awesome graphics and a touch more realism than ripping someone’s heart out.

Available for pre-order now on sites like BestBuy and Amazon, the Fight Night game for PlayStation Move should be available in the near future.